A fresh bandit attack on Gamo Gidan Bita community in Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State has displaced 484 residents, including 271 children, pushing the number of internally displaced persons across Nigeria’s North-West to nearly 800,000, the International Organisation for Migration has said.
The IOM disclosed this in its Flash Report 291, released after a rapid assessment of the June 15 attack on the community in Birnin Magaji Ward.
According to the report, armed bandits invaded the village, forcing residents to flee to neighbouring Ubandawaki community in Magaji Gari Ward for safety.
The agency said it activated its 72-hour Displacement Tracking Matrix early warning protocol on June 16 to assess the humanitarian impact of the attack and support emergency response planning.
The assessment revealed that the attack displaced 484 persons from 101 households, while three people were killed and two others sustained injuries.
It added that children accounted for more than half of those displaced, with 271 children affected, alongside 129 women and 84 men.
The latest figures come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis across the North-West, where persistent attacks by armed groups have continued to uproot communities.
The IOM said over 143,189 people had been displaced across the region between December 2025 and June 2026, bringing the cumulative number of internally displaced persons in the North-West to approximately 794,018.
It identified emergency food supplies, temporary shelter and essential non-food items as the immediate needs of the displaced households, noting that all affected families require urgent humanitarian assistance.
The report further highlighted that women and children continue to bear the greatest burden of the violence.
According to the agency, females accounted for about 60 per cent of those displaced, while girls between the ages of six and 12 formed the largest female demographic among the victims. Infants under one year were also among those forced to flee.
The IOM noted that Zamfara alone recorded 279,224 internally displaced persons as of early 2026, representing an increase of 74,648 from the previous reporting period.
It also cited separate assessments showing that attacks in neighbouring Katsina State displaced 3,830 people from 517 households between May 21 and June 1.
Beyond internal displacement, insecurity in the North-West and North-East has also forced thousands of Nigerians to seek refuge in neighbouring countries.
Data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicated that more than 8,500 Nigerians crossed into Niger, Cameroon and Chad within the same six-month period.
In a separate report, the IOM said seasonal migration by pastoralists remained high across Katsina and Zamfara states.
Its Transhumance Tracking Tool Dashboard 20 showed that 388 pastoralists moved 10,572 livestock during May, comprising 6,527 cattle, 2,205 sheep, 1,303 goats and 537 other animals.
The organisation attributed the growing movement of herders to climate change, desertification, inadequate rainfall, population growth and increasing competition for land and water resources, factors it said continue to fuel tensions between farming and pastoral communities across the region.
The IOM called for sustained humanitarian intervention and stronger security measures to protect vulnerable communities, warning that continued attacks could further deepen the displacement crisis in the North-West.
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